News & Insight

This weekend's Financial Times highlighted the main findings of our First time Buyer stamp duty research, namely: 18% of FTB are calibrating their purchases to take advantage of tax relief by buying beneath the exemption threshold. ...

According to new L&C research, if house prices continue to rise at the rate they have in recent years, the proportion of properties which qualify for this exemption will fall dramatically by 2028....

The Observer reported this weekend on the falling number of young home-owning families, as many of today’s millennials struggle in the face of higher property prices. ...

The stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers announced in the budget has benefited over 16,000 homebuyers in the first six weeks since it came into effect, according to the government. ...

Many people put sorting out their finances at the top of their list of New Year financial resolutions, and reviewing your mortgage can be a great place to start. ...

In the November 2017 Budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced an immediate reduction in Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) that will benefit the vast majority of first time buyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and mean 80% of first timers will pay no stamp duty at all. ...

Tomorrow’s Autumn Budget sees growing speculation that the Chancellor could announce measures to help first-time buyers, as well as plans to build more houses. ...

The main theme of the weekends press was unsurprisingly speculation on Wednesdays Budget.  Will Philip Hammond help the UK housing market? ...

The Times looked at home ownership this weekend, following recent research by L&C which revealed that around 1.8 million adults have stayed in a relationship in order to get on to the housing ladder. ...

No exemption for large investors: all landlords, no matter how big, will pay the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge from 1st April....

Barely announced and still several months from reality, there are already some myths and misconceptions around the Help to Buy ISA. We’ve tackled some of the main ones.The £15,000 upper limit is inadequate as a depositWell, it’s true that in many areas – especially the south of England – trying to use the maximum of £15,000 as a 10% deposit is unlikely to get you very much, and probably even less in a few years time.However £15,000 will also give...

Stamp Duty Land Tax is a controversial issue for some. Originally introduced as a historic tax in 1694, it is something that is unavoidable if you are buying a house.You must pay this tax by the official moving-in date (or possession date) of your new home.The stamp duty that we recognize today was first introduced in 2003, and has just undergone the biggest change since it was introduced. How does stamp duty work? If involved in the purchase p...

The Chancellor’s recent announcement regarding changes to the stamp duty system featured heavily in this weekend’s financial press, although opinion on the potential benefits remained divided. The reforms will see stamp duty charged in a similar way to income tax, with different percentage rates charged to each portion of the price. The changes were generally welcomed, but critics in the Financial Times claimed that a major overhaul is still need...

If you and your partner have been living together, there may come a point where you want to put your partners name onto the mortgage alongside yours.If your partner is helping to pay off the mortgage or contributing to the bills, and especially where children are involved, it can be a sensible move to get them added to the property deeds and the mortgage. However, it’s not just a case of changing the names on the mortgage with your lender....

There have been so many changes to the property market within the last few years, that for first time buyers coming into the market right now, it’s like a whirlwind. Knowing the right places to look; the appropriate checks to ensure you do; and the changes in mortgage rates and house prices; it’s almost like you need a degree to understand everything involved in the process of buying a house.So here’s a quick guide to the most important things yo...

I had planned to talk about the budget today but for one thing everyone’s at it and for another, aside from the 15% rate on those attempting to dodge stamp duty by buying through a company plus retrospective hits for anyone weaselling out of that (got my inner leftie popping the cork on a bottle of People’s Sparkling Turnip Wine, I can tell you), there was little of interest from a mortgage point of view. I suspect the 7% rate will be largely gre...

First time buyers should move quickly in the New Year as the Government's stamp duty exemption comes to an end in March.When buying a new home, you need to pay stamp duty (or Stamp Duty Land Tax to give it its full name) as a percentage of the value of the property you’re buying.  There’s no stamp duty on properties worth £125,000 or less, but over that it’s charged at 1% and then 3% over £250,000.In March 2010, the Government announced a stamp d...

Yesterday saw the launch of the new Mortgage Verification Scheme – a new venture set up by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Building Societies Association and HM Revenue & Customs to help combat mortgage fraud.Under the scheme, mortgage lenders can choose to pass on an applicant’s details to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for further checking if they have insufficient evidence of the income being declared by the borrower and suspect frau...

Figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) this week showed that first time buyers’ share of the mortgage market fell in July to its lowest level for 3 years.  The number of mortgages taken out by First Time Buyers in July stood at 19,400 – down from 19,700 in June and from 20,100 July 2009. CML’s figures also show that buyers of their first home are, on average, putting down a deposit of 24% – this equates to around £40,000 depend...

Spring traditionally signifies the start of the house buying season, and the Daily Telegraph revealed this week that recent changes to stamp duty have resulted in an increase in enquiries to estate agents and online property sites. Experts said that the recent announcement by the Post Office confirming that it will be offering 90% loans is good news for First Time Buyers, and other lenders are expected to follow suit, but getting together a sizea...

According to Nationwide’s House Price Index, UK house prices fell by 1% in February, bringing to a halt their 9 month run of increases.Nationwide’s chief economist, Martin Gahbauer, commented “There is evidence from a range of indicators that the market may have lost momentum in early 2010 as the stamp duty holiday ended and house hunters were obstructed by the icy weather,”He also cautioned that “At this stage, it is difficult to gauge how much ...

Just as we’ve been getting used to some positive signs for the housing market, somebody has to come along and spoil it with some facts. Rightmove the property website reported asking prices dropped by 1.6% in November and expect them to continue falling for the next two months. Prices fell as sellers looked to secure a sale before Christmas, their case helped by some buyers being equally keen to beat the imminent change in the stamp duty thresh...

This weekend’s mortgage news focused on the recent Centre for Economics and Business Research forecast that interest rates will remain low for at least 2 years, with the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and the Observer all discussing the impact this will have on a borrower’s decision over what rate to take. Experts suggest that lifetime trackers and some standard variable rates are very competitive at the moment depending on the amount of equity in...

As we have come to expect, both Nationwide and Halifax reported house prices falling further in April, but by differing amounts.Nationwide reported a drop of 0.4% to an average price of £151,861, and Halifax a much larger drop of 1.7% to £154,716, giving annual reductions of 15% and 17.7% respectively.Nationwide welcomed the extension to the stamp duty holiday announced in the budget. Before the initial stamp duty announcement last September, onl...

This weekend’s financial press was brimming with comments and advice following last week’s budget announcement. The Times, Telegraph and the Sunday Times all reported on the extension of the current stamp duty window, with many industry experts sharing the opinion that the move does not go far enough in helping First Time Buyers....

Here are the main points of the budget delivered yesterday by Alistair DarlingHousing & MortgagesThe temporary increase in the nil rate stamp duty threshold to £175,000 will be extended to the end of the year. This means around 60% of all house purchases will be exempt.£500 million will be provided to enable stalled housing developments to be completed£100 million will be given to local government to build energy efficient housing.£50 million...

Both Nationwide and Halifax reported similar falls in their house price indices for August, as the downward trend gathered pace. Nationwide reported an average fall of 1.9% in August and Halifax 1.8%, with both lenders now quoting the annual rate of decline in double figures for the first time in at least 18 years.While different, the average price given by both lenders is now below the new stamp duty threshold of £175,000 announced by the Chance...

Disappointingly, there were once again no great changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax.The last change to this tax was in 2006 when the 1% threshold was increased from £120,000 to £125,000, but there has been no change to the other bands (at £250,000 and £500,000) since 2000.Thanks to the housing boom, the Government has seen nearly a ten-fold increase in its revenue from stamp duty over the last decade.  In 200/07, it received £6.4 billion according...

The crucial topic in this weekend’s press was the clampdown on lending from Britain’s major banks and building societies. Reportedly, the effects of the ‘credit crunch’ are beginning to deepen and it is becoming difficult for existing and new borrowers to secure the best rates.Across the majority of weekend newspapers, articles discussed the realities facing first-time buyers, many of whom have little or no deposit when purchasing their first hom...